The City Council met on March 4, 2026, to receive a legislative update from Richmond, debate a proposed delay in parking fee implementation at the Sports Center and Convention Center, honor the memory of former Delegate Barry Knight, and recognize local youth and community organizations. The council approved a consent agenda and several appointments, and discussed housing affordability. A closed session was held for legal and contract matters.
Brett McKenzie, legislative liaison, reported on the final two weeks of the General Assembly session. Key points:
Councilmember Moss questioned the scope of HB 816/SB 454, noting the 50% requirement applies to improved and unimproved commercial properties. Mayor Tyron expressed concern over erosion of local land use authority.
Mayor Tyron proposed delaying the scheduled April 1 parking fee implementation to allow time for stakeholder communication, operational planning, and resolution of the 19th Street garage decision. Key positions:
Council consensus was to delay the implementation until after the summer 2026 season and until the 19th Street parking garage decision is made. The city manager will issue a public notice about the delay.
Council members honored the late Barry Knight, a former Virginia Beach delegate and proud hog farmer, who passed away on February 26, 2026. Speakers (Mayor Tyron, Vice Mayor Wilson, Councilmembers Barbara, Rosemary, Michael) praised his bipartisan nature, advocacy for agriculture, assistance with the Nemo Parkway 7B project, and quiet philanthropy (e.g., $25,000 for one-room schoolhouse restoration). Council noted his irreplaceable role as a farmer-legislator.
Councilmember Stacy read excerpts from a guest editorial by State Senator Angelina Williams Graves on housing supply shortages, restrictive zoning, and the need to expand all types of housing. Mayor Tyron added that the housing crisis is national; new housing (even high-end) creates a vacancy chain and helps keep mill rates reasonable. Councilmember John noted Virginia Beach has a deficit of 2,000 housing units and that population trends show the city still losing residents. The housing discussion was linked to the ongoing comprehensive plan update.
No public speakers were present for the three scheduled public hearings (agricultural lease of city property; acquisition agreements for the Cental Vote Park Turnpike Phase 2 and Lynnhaven River Basin Wetland Construction projects). All hearings were closed with no testimony.
Good morning, welcome more. We call this meeting to order, and uh Mr. Dude Haney, I understand we have another magnificent update from Richard. Yes, Mr. Mayor, members of council. We are going to be joined today by Brett McKenzie, who's live and in action in Richmond, Virginia. He's gonna come and give City Council an overview of where we are with this legislative session on our general assembly. So, Brett, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Manager. Good afternoon, uh Mr. Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of the council. It's a pleasure to be with you again this afternoon. Uh, we're gonna follow a similar format as you've probably seen the last couple weeks, including most of the same bills as we're still kind of battling uh a lot of the same issues. Um it's that time in the legislative session where tensions are really high and tempers are pretty hot, and uh on some pieces of legislation that look pretty inevitable. We've uh we're looking to try and find amendments and some substitutes and some changes that we can make some of these pieces of legislation uh better and more livable um as we continue to work them through the system here. So uh lots going on. Uh Andrew, can you go to the next slide for me? Uh so we're in the last two weeks of legislative session. Supposed to go to sign you die next Saturday. Um our legislative agenda is um had a bit of a rough week on in some ways. Uh so um our cancer screening bill just this morning was carried over to 2027 in Senate finance. Uh they said they would look to find some dollars in the budget. We'll see what happens there. But uh there's also this pilot program that is taking place out of Fairfax County that is supposed to report later this year some results on some cancer screening uh programs they've been running up there, and so they've decided to kind of wait to see what the results were from that pilot program before they uh create a permanent program and uh fully fund it. So that was disappointing this morning. But um, as I mentioned, we'll continue to work to try and find some dollars in the budget for that. Uh similarly, our EOS War for Life funding legislation was continued in Senate finance. Um they had done the same thing to the Senate version. Typically, when they do that, they stick with the same result. That's kind of what happened there. Um, our HP 390 passed the Senate with a substitute, um, just some technical changes, and then now that's headed back over to the House, uh, where we're hopeful they will accept those changes, and that will then go to the governor. They reject the changes, then it'll go to conference. So we'll continue to work on that legislation. Um as we've mentioned the last couple weeks, our 10-1 election system legislation has all been successful. Um Governor Spanberger has until March 5th to um take action on the Senate versions of those bills as they as those hit her desk last week. So we're waiting on her um her action on those pieces of legislation. So these are our legislation with fiscal impact that we've been talking about with you guys. Um, we're not really expecting a whole lot of um resolution on these until the very end. Most of these will head to conference as they have different uh pieces in the house and the senate have different versions, and so um we're not anticipating a lot of resolution until the end on these. Um the collective bargaining bill in the house. Um passed commerce and labor and was sent back over to finance. Just typical process, what we would expect to see. Um delegate Fagan's bill dealing with prevailing wage. Same thing, passed out of commerce and labor was sent to finance. Um the legislation that requires paid sick leave, uh, passed commerce and labor and is headed to the floor, and then um the legislation that would create a paid family leave program uh passed Senate finance and is headed to the floor there. So uh lots of movement, but nothing that isn't uh what we expected on this. Similarly, the uh pieces of legislation that carry some revenue streams that uh all the local governments are following. Uh skill games legislation continues to move forward. Um, they're hoping to get those to be in the same format and same language so they don't head the conference.